Stone Akin of Shell Knob, Mo. is descended from the Blackfoot and Cherokee tribes and is a bit of an expert on all things Indian. In September, Akin traveled to Guatemala and Honduras to study the ancient Mayan Calendar with a revered Mayan Priest.
"I don't believe I could have understood the calendar without experiencing the people," Akin said.
Because the 5,000-year-old calendar so accurately predicted things like solar flares and eclipses, there has been a lot of attention on the fact that it does not go beyond the end of 2012. Some suggest the Mayans believed that time would bring an apocalyptic end to the world.
"There are all kinds of television specials about what possibly could happen," he said. "From the polarity switch to massive solar flares to super volcanoes. Fortunately, the Maya don't predict that."
Akin says the modern Maya believe the calendar represents an end to a cycle in the placement of the Earth in the Solar System. He said no one in Central America gave him the impression that they're preparing for the end of life.
"I went down with a total open mind, not knowing if they would tell me this is the end. They point to Dec. 22 as the beginning of a new era," he said.
Most astronomers and scientists have rejected apocalyptic forecasts. NASA has compared the hype surrounding 2012 to the same fears that arose about the Y2K bug in the 1990s.
(CBS Affiliate KOLR of Springfield supplied the video for this story.)
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